1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to communications networks and, in particular to a system for configuring subscriber equipment upon installation within a communication network.
2. Background Art
Transmission of data (voice, video and/or data) over fiber optic cabling is becoming common place. For instance, optical transmission is heavily used for long-distance (or inter-LATA) telephone transmission. Where fiber optic communication has been used in local exchanges (sometimes referred to as a Local Access & Transport Area or “LATA”) a passive optical network (“PON”) has been used. The name PON arises from the use of passive splitters (e.g. star couplers) to distribute signal between the central office (CO) and multiple, spatially distributed subscriber locations via fiber optic cables. PONs are one example of point to multipoint wire line networks.
Point to multipoint wire line networks have various benefits including, but not limited to, the lower equipment costs. These lower equipment costs over traditional point to point networks arise, in part, due to the absence of dedicated lines and ports for each subscriber. However, because there is no unique port (path) linking each subscriber to the network, there is no inherent means for uniquely identifying the downstream path to any particular subscriber. Such a path is required, for instance, to appropriately terminate an incoming voice call for any particular subscriber (e.g. the subscriber at (212) 555-1212). Thus, while the service provider knows the identity of any particular subscriber at installation, a passive optical network does not. Consequently, in order to deliver communications and uniquely desired service to each subscriber, there is a need to establish some correlation between the subscriber's identification and the optical network unit (“ONU”) serving that location.